A stagnant body of water lies still, does not move, does not produce anything positive, and will over time begin to stink and die. A moving body of water, on the other hand, touches everything it passes, leaving signs of life and fruitfulness.
Churches across North America today have become more organizations of people than people with a cause. An organization of people becomes stagnant, will decline and eventually die. While a people with a cause is always moving, leaving traces of new life everywhere it touches.
Churches often become little more than an organization of people who gather on Sunday’s for their own pleasure and self-proclaimed worship. One pastor made a proclamation to me and later to his church about an event the church participated in annually. “There is not one thing we do there that an atheist could not set up right next to us and do the same.” Unfortunately, something similar could be said of a majority of what we do as churches, even in our worship services. (That church immediately set out to change.)
Pastors come into these churches and find it hard, even frustrating to move the church out of their comfort zone, into biblical Great Commission ministry. Granted there may be small pockets of true gospel centered ministry, but not overall. We, the church in North America, have created our own brand of Christianity. We have become organizations of people, people of comfort in our ways of worship.
Churches making a significant difference today in their community and beyond have defined a cause and are drawing people to a needs meeting ministry cause. It is more than filling shoeboxes and backpacks – while those are worthy needs meeting ministries. People of all generations want a cause. The younger generations today are exemplary in this serving for a cause environment. But how do you move from an organization of people to a people with a cause. First through prayer for intentional outward focus, find the true needs of your community – not your own perceived needs, the true needs of the surrounding community. There is a 3 question survey that you can use in any situation for finding the true needs that you can download for free at soncare.net .
A fruitful ministry then depends on the leader (pastor) who embodies the cause, empowers the God gifted members of his church to undertake the cause, and guides the church to fully resource ministries to meet the true needs in the community. Whatever the need in your community, God has gifted your church (people) to help meet the need. One issue is we must get out of our closed ministry mindset box and utilize what God has blessed us with.
It is important to remember here, “Don’t copy models, capture principles.” It is not about what some other church has done. It is about the need God has placed in front of you and how He has gifted each member in your congregation to fulfill that need. If you desire assistance in discovering the need or how to utilize the giftings in your church to meet that need, contact me. My calling is to assist you. Begin today moving from an organization of people to a People with a Cause!
George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.